


Rakshasa Nightmares

by AlexBarton



Series: Adventures in Karamore: The Cardinal Locks [3]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Giant Spiders, Karamore, Magic, Necromancy, Rakshasas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 03:36:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20789978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexBarton/pseuds/AlexBarton
Summary: While encountering a rakshasa, Dorian gets cursed with nightmares.Karamore was created by the amazingly talented CaptainMorgan.Based on our D&D escapades.





	Rakshasa Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> This gets into Dorian's backstory - a note that it was heavily influenced from Dragon Age, but there are some differences in the lore and where that will progress. 
> 
> There is homophobia and mentions of magical conversion therapy, so if that will trigger you, please do not read this.

When they arrive at Aron’s Fort, they almost miss the buildings set into the trees, suspended above them. There are no people around, and no recent footprints. Everything is covered in spider webs, but they are unsure if that is from natural spiders or if some magical foul play is at work here. The only thing they can sense is the faint smell of tobacco smoke, which gets stronger towards the center of the fort.

After investigating each hut in the trees and finding nothing but turned over cots and desks, they decide to all stay in one room together. Dorian casts Alarm around the room so that there is no need for a watch, but Kis and Elijah decide to take partial watches to appease their sense of foreboding.

When they wake the next morning, nothing seems amiss, but as they exit the cabin, they notice the peculiar symbol drawn into the earth in the center of the fort.

“How did this happen?” Elijah demanded, turning to Dorian.

The wizard threw his arms up defensively. “The horses didn’t react last night either, so it wasn’t me. Whatever this is has magic and is sentient enough to detect other magic.”

The cleric grunted in frustration.

Dorian pulls out a crystal hanging on a chain around his neck. “I’m going to try to call Sorrice.”

After a few seconds, the crystal began glowing.

“Well what is it boy? I assume you have a good reason for bothering me like this.”

“Yes Sorrice. We went to Aron’s Fort on a job. The soldiers have been out of contact with Myer for almost 3 months, and we got here yesterday, and no one is here. No one has been here for a while from what we can tell...” Dorian can feel the impatience from Sorrice and continues, “Besides the point. We all slept in one cabin last night and I cast Alarm so we could all get a good night’s sleep. But something came in the fort and drew a symbol in the center of the clearing without tripping my spell or alerting our horses.”

“... I see. Describe the symbol.”

“Well. Um. It has a straight line, and 8 curved lines coming off one end. Like a fan almost. But not quite.”

“The Reed of the Masters.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“They are a group of beings who worship the demon gods and beast lords. I would be very careful.”

Dorian opens his mouth to ask another question, but Sorrice interrupts with, “I have to go. Ket’Ateph is misbehaving. Be careful.”

And with that, the crystal goes dim.

“Well,” Kis began, “That was... not very helpful.”

The group decides to look around the fort to see if there are any clues pointing to where whatever left the mark came in or left. They split up, each one taking a tree to look at while Kis remained in the center to keep an eye on all the party members.

Dorian and Boralus notice two trails leading out of the southernmost point of the fort, and another copy of the same symbol carved into a tree further out.

After discussing with the group, Boralus carries Kis and flies out into the forest to try and find where the symbol leads. A few minutes later, Boralus lands back in the fort and lowers Kis to the ground. 

Kis dusts herself off then speaks. “There’s a river. With a lot of mist and fog. It had the feeling of magic. Oh and also a dock with a bell, which I did NOT ring. You’re welcome, Dorian.”

Dorian rolls his eyes. “After the will’o’wisp, it’s about time that you develop some self-preservation Kis.”

She sticks her tongue out at him.

They all make their way through the woods in the direction of the river. As they approach, they can see the mist that Kis had described but only on top of the water, as if there was an invisible boundary. The group searches for a clue on how to cross, ignoring the small broken dock and the lone bell at the end. Finally, at a loss for how to continue, Kaide rings the bell.

Instantly, they hear a crumbling, as if a statue had come to life. In the mist, they see a figure slowly approaching on a boat of some kind.

A stone golem stands on a barge. They pay the ferryman and it begins steering the boat to, presumably, the other side. In the mist, they can see shadows of great battles being fought.

While rowing, the golem turns to Kaide and says, “Storm’s voice, Beast Speaker was here not long ago.”

Kaide seems concerned by this, but Dorian just furrows his brow. In all his studies, the Beast Speaker was only ever mentioned as a myth from Baeris.

The golem says nothing more, not answering the questions they ask. When they reach the other side of the river, the mist ends immediately. As they disembark, they notice the ground isn’t marshy as expected, but stable, though it has many cracks with water flowing through them. There are a few spiders crawling along the ground towards the trees. 

The group follows the spiders and moves towards the treeline, noticing that the surroundings are losing colour, taking on a grey monotone colour. It takes a moment to realise that it’s because everything is now covered in spiderwebs.

Lone spiderwebs drift through the air occasionally, startling the group a few times.

“I guess now we know why people thought this area was haunted,” Boralus remarks after the third time this happens.

Further in, they find a small mound in the shape of a body. After examining it, no one can determine if the entity inside is living, so they decide to press on and return that way to check inside later on.

Finally, they reach a clearing that is entirely covered in spider webs, almost like a den or a lair. There are four more cocoons across the clearing. They pause for a moment, then look up to see four giant spiders descending upon them.

There’s a quick scuffle as they are set upon. Dorian throws firebolts, dodging the spider that is attempting to bite him. Kis and Kaide have been bitten by the spiders closest to them, and Elijah and Boralus are barely fighting off the spider attacking them. Finally, one of his firebolts catches, and the spider screeches in pain as it begins to go up in flames. Kaide delivers the final blow, the carapace shattering, which sends the remaining three spiders fleeing back into the trees.

As the spiders scuttle away, a hand appears from the central mass of webs. A creature emerges. It walks upright and is dressed in fine clothing, but it has the head of a tiger and what appear to be backwards hands. A second look shows a patch with the Reed of the Masters on the creature’s breast.

“It is not wise to harm E’ekasi’s brood.”

Dorian can sense the Necromantic magic radiating off this being, and grips his staff tightly.

The creature ignores him and turns to Boralus. “You are interfering. Divert your path. The disease will awaken again.”

The aarakocra’s feathers ruffle in surprise and fear, and it seems that shock keeps him silent.

Dorian swallows hard and steps forward. “Who are you?”

“I am Bajsavi.”

“So, what exactly are you,” Kis asks, “And what are you doing here? And who is E’ekasi? Are the spiders the brood? Why-”

The creature raises a hand, and Dorian can tell that it has charmed Kis.

“Stop talking.”

The flow of Kis’ questions ceases immediately.

Dorian swallows again. “We came here looking for some missing soldiers. Do you know where they are? Are they alive?”

Bajsavi gestures to the cocoons on the far side of the nest. “They are alive. For now.”

“And. What are you doing here? Are you the Beast Speaker?”

“Enough.”

With that, Bajsavi creates a spectral hand that swipes at Dorian. It dissipates as it touches his skin, but it leaves the feeling of powerful magic burning through his body. Dorian knows enough to sense the curse, but he has no idea what it was exactly.

Then, Bajsavi turns and disappears among the spider webs. 

As the group stares at the empty grove, they remember the creature’s words - some of the missing soldiers were still alive, if only for the moment. They go to work, cutting open the spider web pods that held the soldiers’ bodies. Boralus flies up to one hanging from a tree that had been overlooked in their initial sighting. 

After preliminary healing to stabilise them, the group carries the six soldiers out of the grove, heading in the direction of the river. They stumble out of the trees - and arrive back in Aron’s Fort.

While Boralus and Elijah are healing the soldiers, Kis pulls Dorian aside. “How did we get here without crossing the river again?”

Dorian shakes his head. “I don’t know. I’m going to speak with Sorrice again.”

The wizard pulls the communication crystal back out and feeds some of his magic into it. The glowing response is almost instantaneous.

“Sorrice?”

“Here, boy. What happened?”

“We found some of the missing soldiers.”

“Some?”

“Six of the nine.”

“That’s not why you’re calling me.”

“There was a creature. In the spider lair. It called itself Bajsavi. It had the head of a tiger and backwards hands.”

Dorian senses more than hears Sorrice’s sharp intake of breath.

“It sounds like this Bajsavi is one of Ravanna’s followers. A rakshasa. This is grave news. They are demons of the ninth circle of hell. For one to be in Amerce... this is cause for concern.”

“To get there, we had to cross a river. But when we were leaving, we just walked back into Aron’s Fort.”

“Yes, that sounds like rakshasa magic.”

“Sorrice. Another thing.”

“Yes boy?”

“I think it cursed me.

“You think?”

“It used Mage Hand to attack me. But it didn’t feel like Mage Hand exactly. I don’t know how to explain it exactly.”

“Rakshasas have innate magic to curse. You need to find someone who can cast Remove Curse or Cure Magic. And quickly.”

“Would the Sages at Vollun be able to do that?”

“Oh most certainly.”

“Well, we were planning to go there on the way back to Myer anyway. You know, for Kis.”

“Be careful boy.”

“I will.”

With that, the crystal dims and Dorian looks at Kis. “We need to go to Vollun.”

“What did Sorrice say?”

Dorian shakes his head. “I’ll tell everyone together. I don’t want to repeat myself.”

* * *

As night falls, the party and the rescued soldiers gather in the same cabin. Dorian casts Alarm again, but they set up a watch just in case. Bajsavi has shown that he can get through wards already, and though they don’t think he has reason to attack them now, they want to make sure there are no surprises.

Dorian drifts off to sleep almost immediately, exhausted from the fight with the spiders and then carrying an unconscious soldier for miles through the forest.

_ Part of learning under the Convocation included the history of Karamore. Dorian had received only a cursory education on the now-banned School of Necromancy, but he knew enough to recognize the tome in his father’s study. _

_ He had been in the library looking for a specific book to aid him with potion making, but the sudden sense of magic pulled him to the closed door of his father’s study. He had hesitated for a moment, then peeked his head in. Empty. Of course. His father was out for the next few days as he shipped cargo. He walked in quickly, shutting the door behind him. _

_ He followed the trail of magic to the second drawer of his father’s desk. He hesitated a moment, seeing a rune carved into the handle. Not wanting to trip the spell, he grasped the sides of the drawer and pulled it out. Inside was a book. It looked fairly nondescript to the untrained eye, but the dark purple binding marked it as a book of Necromancy. _

_ Dorian’s brow furrowed as he picked it up. Why would his father, his non-magical father, have a book of Necromancy in his study? It was against the law to even own such a thing, and it wasn’t as if he could use it. Why take the risk? _

_ Then he noticed the opened letter that had been resting under the book. With trepidation, he took it and began to read._

_ Dearest Cousin Aristides, _

_ It is good to hear from you. My father, your uncle, is quite well since last I saw him. We __no longer reside near each other, as I now have a daughter and it is not safe here on _ _Baeris to have large settlements. I shall pass on your regards to him when next I see _ _him. It is strange to know that my uncle’s family is on Amerce, and not lost as we feared w__hen Baeris was overrun 80 years ago. _ _Regarding the matter of your son, yes I should be able to help with this. _

_There is a ritual t__hat uses old Necromancy magic to erase memories and replace them with ones of your c__hoosing. In order to cast this magic, I will require a copy of the _ Forbidden Rites _ and a __set of small crystal lenses set in gold loops worth at least 500 gold pieces. Let me know __when you wish to conduct this ritual, and I will meet you at a designated location on the __coast of Baeris so that your ships can transport me to Portcost. _

_There is one other thing. __The nature of this magic is such that the subject must either be willing or restrained. __From what you have said of your son’s _ proclivities_, I think he shall need to be restrained. __I will leave it to you to devise some manner of doing so._

_ Regards, Your Cousin, _

_ Menelaos Pappas_

_ Dorian stared at the words, uncomprehending. He had family on Baeris? This, of course, was not the most pressing issue. His father intended to replace his memories of something. Based on the mention of his ‘proclivities’, Dorian inferred that it had to do with his father finding out of his dalliances with men. _

_ He carefully folded the letter again and returned it to its spot in the drawer. He then flipped the tome open to where it had been marked. _

_ Programmed Amnesia _

_ A spelle moste potente to rewrite memories as if they were a storye _

_ Bile rose in Dorian’s throat. He knew that his father had not been pleased that his son and heir was not interested in women. But this? This would erase who he was. It would leave him a completely different person. How could his father want this? _

_ He had to get out, leave, get as far away as possible before his father came back. His father, who was out to sea, supposedly to take goods to Angerthom, but who knew if he was actually going to Baeris. His father, who had decided that it was preferable to completely rewrite who Dorian was simply because Dorian loved men. _

_ Dorian shoved the drawer shut, clutching the forbidden book to him. His father needed the book for the ritual, so by both leaving and taking the book, it was just one more safeguard. _

_ However, in his haste, Dorian brushed his hand over the handle. The rune flared to life, wrapping his arms and torso with rope. The book hit the floor with a loud _ thunk _ , Dorian falling beside it as a paralysis spell took hold. Panic filled his chest, and so without thinking, Dorian set the ropes ablaze, needing to get away from his father’s study as quickly as possible. The fire consuming the ropes was hot, and Dorian could feel the heat and pain searing into his skin. He thrashed harder as the paralysis spell weakened with the burning ropes. He- _

-woke up with a gasp catching in his throat, his heart racing. 

It took several minutes before he was able to calm his breathing. He could still feel the burning of the ropes on his skin, the pain that left welted scars across his back, chest, and upper arms. He rubbed at them now. He hadn’t had that dream in months, and it worried him that it would reappear now after meeting a demonic creature.

Unsettled, he slips back into nightmares of fire and pain and loneliness. When he wakes again, he is no more rested than when he first slept.

**Author's Note:**

> Amerce and Baeris are two continents in the world of Karamore. Dorian and co are on Amerce. Baeris was overrun by monsters around 80 years ago; there are very few people living there, and those that do live there are nomadic and keep very small families. Baeris is also where the Necromancers were banished. 
> 
> One of Dorian's great-grandparents was a Necromancer on Baeris. They had twins: one magical (also a Necromancer) and the other non-magical. The non-magical twin returned to Amerce and lived in Portcost; this is Dorian's grandfather.
> 
> If you want more info on Karamore, go check out our campaign Tumblr:  
karamore-aesthetic.tumblr.com


End file.
